Hugh Richards obituary

Tuesday 9 November 2010 13.27 EST
First published on Tuesday 9 November 2010 13.27 EST

Hugh Richards, an ardent anti-nuclear activist, who has died from bone marrow cancer aged 65, had a gentle, understated manner that masked fierce determination and a wonderful dry wit.

Born in Cardiff, he trained as both an architect (gaining a first from Cardiff University, and meeting his wife, Mag) and a town planner (at Sheffield University). His work as a planner for Liverpool council in the early 1970s drew him into environmentalism. After a few years in London, he and Mag moved back to Wales in 1976, to start a family and live a more sustainable lifestyle.

The first big British set-piece nuclear public inquiry at Windscale (Sellafield) coincided with this move, and soon Hugh became embroiled in opposition to nuclear power. With other, like-minded activists, he established the Central Wales Energy Group and later the Welsh Anti-Nuclear Alliance (WANA). He was also involved in the setting up of the Nuclear Free Local Authorities movement in 1980.

By 1988 he was becoming frustrated with the limited time he had to dedicate to the anti-nuclear cause, so he and Mag agreed that he would become a "house father", spending his spare time on campaigning. He simultaneously set up in private practice as a planning and design consultant. Indeed he designed the home where Billy and Tom, his two sons with severe learning difficulties, live as part of the Ashfield Community Enterprise (ACE), in Powys. Hugh and his younger brother, Tim, used to joke that he had a truly "anti-nuclear" family.

Hugh was a tireless campaigner for causes that he believed to be right, not just on environmental issues, but also around the rights of people with learning difficulties. He was a candidate for the Green party in the Brecon and Radnorshire constituency in the 1992 general election.

Perhaps his greatest campaign victory was to persuade the Welsh Assembly environment minister, Jane Davidson, in August last year, to support WANA's call for a public inquiry into proposed nuclear new build in Wales. Hugh himself was called as an expert witness at a number of nuclear public inquiries, which is where I first met him, two decades ago.

His most important contribution was work on spent fuel management and so-called "high burn-up" nuclear fuel for new reactor designs. He painstakingly demonstrated that the nuclear industry's plans for long-term management of new-build wastes are unsustainable. Hugh is survived by Mag, Billy, Tom and Tim.